Need Help Packaging Guest Soaps for Resort

[Zelda Rose]

What's the best way to wrap guest soaps for a 5 star resort? It's humid here and I'd like to shrink wrap but the smallest bag is 4X6. Anyone used pillow boxes WITHOUT wrapping the soap in tissue first? Any ideas would be appreciated. :wtf:

 

[judymoody]

What's your budget? Some folks like muslin bags but they might be too pricey. They keep the soap in good condition and slow the appearance of DOS. There was a soaper who experimented with them and found they retarded oxidation.

 

[DeeAnna]

"... the smallest bag is 4X6..."

And ... that works just fine, unless your bars are much smaller than mine. If you want to shorten the length, trim with scissors or a roller cutter. Or heat seal the bags with the seal bar set hot enough to melt the plastic -- just pull the excess away from the melt line.

 

[Zelda Rose]

I think muslin bags would be a great idea and I could shop around and just get them in bulk. The fact that they slow the DOS and retard oxidation is a huge plus!!! Didn't know that. Thanks so much.

 

[Zelda Rose]

My bars are 2 X 2 1/2 in and 1/2 in thick. I do have a great seal a meal type machine I use for shrink wrap and I love it. My concern is that with some of my reg size soaps I've noticed it's really hard to get them open!! I worry about someone really wrenching down on the soap to pull open the shrink wrap off and having it squish or something. Can you even imagine? The rooms at this resort are $1500-$2500 a night!! I looked for soap bands that had a little zip strip but they were too small. Thanks for the suggestion, I might just do a test and see how it goes and make SURE I cure the soap hard as a rock.

 

[DeeAnna]

Oh, yes, your soaps are quite a bit smaller than what I'm doing. And for guest soaps, that makes sense.

The shrink bags could be downsized to fit your soaps, but your vacuum packager might not get hot enough to melt the shrink bags, if yours is similar to my vac packer. To seal my soap shrink bags, I'm using an industrial bag sealer instead. I can adjust the heat settings on that one. It probably gets quite a bit hotter than vac packer. I would leave the ends open like what is shown in this video: [ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hQrUx5P3Fxs[/ame] She does a lovely job of explaining how she does her packaging.

My goodness, those are high-end digs. I know muslin is an option, but have you considered organza? It might not be quite as protective as muslin, but it is more decorative and may look a little more classy, if you can afford paying a little more for packaging. Here are some products that might pique your interest: http://www.papermart.com/sheer-organza-fabric-bags/id=18971-INDEX

 

[Carty812]

I saw packages or organza bags at my local Dollar Tree today. If you want to try out you could drive over and get a bag and if you like order online from there in bulk.

 

[Zelda Rose]

wrapping guest soaps with glassine bags

While I would LOVE to use organza or muslin bags because I like them both BUT I saw these embossed glassine bags and decided to go with them. I won't even have to shrink wrap!! Just fold the bag over and put on a label to hold it and I might punch a couple holes in the top and tie it with a natural cord. There are so many different styles and the price really varied so I ordered several.
https://www.etsy.com/listing/154416...to=ZZ&ga_search_type=all&ga_view_type=gallery

Thanks for replies everyone!

 

[Sheila Pullar]

Can you shrink cling film the same way as shrink wrap or are they completely different?

 

[Zelda Rose]

yes you can, I've done it using Saran wrap and it worked great. For a dozen soaps this is a really easy way to go but I've got a couple hundred and wrapped before in tissue and taped them and it was a loonnng night. I found some beautiful embossed vellum bags that are moisture proof etc and all I have to do is put the soaps in and fold the flap over and put a label on it. The bags are so beautiful. I'm learning how to do the embossing myself. Etsy had a bunch of bags on there. Those little Cricut machines are interesting..

 

[Sheila Pullar]

Thank you x

 

[CaraBou]

The glassine bags you linked too are super cute. Good luck with your gig!

 

[Zelda Rose]

thanks CaraBou!!

 

[seven]

i 2nd Carabou, the glassine bags are real pretty. do you mind posting a pic when your soap is all wrapped up and labeled? i'm really curious to see the end product

 

[Zelda Rose]

i'm curious what they will look like too! lol I'll post a pic when I get them wrapped. The soap turned out perfect. Looks like marbled tile and smells perfect. Thanks for the interest.